


Tag, You're It

by ValkyrieWolff (WyckedStarr)



Series: Game On [1]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: (let's be real neither of these dorks are smooth unless it's by accident), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Catra has a potty mouth, F/F, Laser Tag, Meet-Cute, Pre-Slash, adora is smooth, almost, author maybe has a thing for muscular adora, or at least I think it's a meet cute, or is she????, scorpia is sunshine personified, the gang's all here, the other relationships are background
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:13:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25897249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WyckedStarr/pseuds/ValkyrieWolff
Summary: The only reason Catra came to this stupid party was to destroy people at laser tag and she wasn't going to let a pretty face distract her from that.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Kyle/Lonnie/Rogelio (She-Ra), Minor or Background Relationship(s), Perfuma/Scorpia (She-Ra)
Series: Game On [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1879294
Comments: 16
Kudos: 207





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fic in a modern AU series that mainly centres around Catra and Adora being extremely competitive.

Catra wasn’t sure why she even agreed to come to Scorpia’s stupid birthday party. Scorpia’s girlfriend’s stupid friends were so bright and bubbly and annoying. But Scorpia had looked at her with those big puppy dog eyes and begged her to come, since it was the first time her friends and Perfuma’s friends would be meeting as a group and it was really important to her that everyone got along.

Catra had tried to make the argument that that was even more of a reason why she shouldn’t come, because she was pathologically incapable of getting along with anyone. She’d even tried to argue that the only reason she got along with Scorpia was because she was so damn nice that Catra had no choice but to be friends with her out of self-defence.

But nothing Catra had to offer could beat those puppy dog eyes.

And so here she was, hiding in a darkened corner of a warehouse converted into _the_ party hot spot. She’d managed to snag a cup of the punch that wasn’t green and grass scented. Disgustingly, neither of them had been spiked. Maybe none of Perfuma’s good two-shoes friends were the type to bring booze, but she would have thought Lonnie at least would bring something to liven this party up.

But noooooooooo… even Lonnie was behaving herself, chatting to Perfuma while her ‘boys’ talked enthusiastically with a man wearing a crop top. Kyle was talking a million miles a minute, translating for Rogelio as usual. The traitors.

At least she had something to look forward to in this pastel infested hellscape. The whole reason people held their parties in this drafty warehouse in the middle of no-where.

Laser tag.

Catra had always had a knack for sports, and games involving weapons, much to the horror of more than one of her foster families. That skill was actually how she’d met Scorpia and Lonnie; they’d all gone to the same summer camp and been placed in a group and cabin together. There was meant to be another girl in their group, but she’d never turned up. Instead, Catra and Lonnie had had to pick up the slack to remain in the competition against the four person teams.

Scorpia was an awesome teammate, but she lacked the competitive edge they had. She was strong as fuck, but way too nice for her own good.

Lonnie and Catra, otherwise like oil and water, had bonded over the task of protecting their teammate (and then friend), from the other campers and their sneers at the girl with the fused fingers.

Thinking about camp gave Catra an evil idea. Slinking out of her corner, she intercepted Lonnie on her way to the table loaded with all kinds of food.

“What do you want, Catra?” Lonnie drawled.

“You’ve been talking to Perfuma and her friends,” Catra said. “What’s our game plan?”

Lonnie rolled her eyes and grabbed a cupcake from the table before joining Catra back in her corner.

“Perfuma isn’t in play, she’s already designated herself the group cheerleader in the interest of fairness. Bow,” she said, gesturing to the guy Kyle had been talking to, “his aim is fantastic, total archery nut. His girlfriend with the pink and purple hair, Glimmer, is fast as anything. She’s on her college’s track and field team, won a tonne of medals. They’re the main ones we need to watch out for.”

Catra nodded, scanning the room. “What about mermaid hair and the jack arse?”

“Mermista and Sea Hawk.”

“Sea Hawk?!” Catra burst into laughter, curling in on herself. Lonnie waited her out, taking a bite of her cupcake.

“Sea Hawk; yes, that’s his name, no don’t ask, he will tell you and I am not bailing you out again. He and Mermista are low threat, she’ll likely end up taking him out when he annoys her too much and then we take her out while she’s distracted.”

“Purple pigtails?” Catra nodded at the woman hovering by the table groaning under the mounts of tiny foods.

“Entrapta, not allowed to participate, apparently she likes to tinker with electronics and isn’t allowed near the laser guns.”

“And the teenager?”

“Frosta, Perfuma’s little sister. Do NOT underestimate her just because she’s a kid.”

“Is that it?” Catra asked with a frown.

“There’s one more on their team,” Lonnie replied. “But she hasn’t gotten here yet.”

Catra nodded, thinking. “What are we working with on our end?”

“Rogelio’s a good shot, Kyle is liable to trip over his own feet, but he’s dependable,” Lonnie said.

“Plan of attack?”

“Well…”

Before Lonnie could being laying out her excellent plan for dominance, the main doors of the warehouse opened and a woman rushed in, a flurry of blonde hair and apologies. The streetlights illuminated her, making her almost appear to glow in the dim lights of the warehouse.

Catra’s jaw dropped in sheer awe. “Who is that?” She breathed.

Lonnie turned to stare at her, having never heard that tone of voice from Catra before. “Shut your mouth before you start drooling,” she said with a smirk.

“I want to climb her like a tree,” Catra whispered, completely ignoring her.

“And I’m out,” Lonnie said drying, backing away and rolling her eyes. With one last shake of her head, she left Catra to drool in the shadows on her own.

* * *

Hands in her pockets, Catra slunk forward, doing her best to act cool and inconspicuous. Up close, she could make out the muscular definition of the blonde’s arms and hear the contents of her apologies.

“I’m so sorry Perfuma! I got completely held up at work and then traffic was the worst I know this party is super important to you I hope I didn’t ruin it by being late!”

When she finally paused for breath, Perfuma interrupted her.

Honestly, Catra was impressed the mystery woman could ramble so much without having to take a breath.

“It’s okay Adora,” Perfuma said. “You made it, you can relax and enjoy the party.”

Adora… what a sickeningly appropriate name for another of Perfuma’s cute, princess-like friends. And yet, it seemed to suit the tall woman, with her storm blue eyes and weird little hair poof. The part of Catra that enjoyed chaos (all of her) desperately wanted to mess that perfect ponytail up.

“Hey Adora,” Catra purred from behind her.

Adora spun around to face Catra, hands clenching into fists. Her eyes ran across Catra’s form, blatantly evaluating her.

“You must be Catra,” she said, tense frame relaxing. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“All bad, I’m sure,” Catra drawled, rocking back on her heels.

Adora hummed, looking Catra up and down. “Enough to know who I need to watch out for.” Those grey blue eyes caught Catra’s blue and brown, going hard and cold. “You’re outnumbered,” she said, voice low and threatening. “And I don’t lose.” With that, Adora turned and walked away to join Bow and Glimmer at the drinks table.

Catra watched her walk and whistled softly, long and low. Well then…

Game on.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! Thanks for your patience, crippling self doubt (and my cat) delayed the posting of this part but it is done.

Geared up, Team Horde (Catra, Lonnie, Scorpia, Kyle and Rogelio) huddled together, going over the plan for the Horde’s victory.

“This is laser tag; trigger discipline isn’t a thing. However, that is not an excuse to shoot your teammates,” Lonnie said, Kyle ducking his head in shame.

“And remember,” Catra hissed. “Adora is mine.”

“You wish,” Lonnie muttered under her breath.

Scorpia laughed happily. “I knew you and Adora would get along great. Or kill each other, but I believed in you.”

“You’d be the only one,” Lonnie added, not bothering to whisper this time.

Used to her friends’ banter at her expense, Catra just rolled her eyes. “Focus, guys. We’re going to crush those princesses.”

“Why do you keep calling Perfuma’s friends princesses?” Kyle asked.

“Have you seen them?” Catra said with an eye roll.

“Um...” Kyle glanced at Rogelio, who just shrugged.

The buzzer sounded, indicating the start of the round and an end to any princess-based questions.

“And go!” Catra snapped, springing into action. Immediately, she used one of the strategically placed half walls to springboard up into the rafters of the ceiling. Was that technically cheating? Yes. Did Catra care? No.

No one ever thought to look up and she was going to take advantage of it.

As sure footed as a cat, she ran along the rafters, searching for her prey.

From above, she watched as Bow lay down covering fire, while the sparkly Glimmer made a run for it, down the corridor to Scorpia’s hideout. Crouching down, she waited for her opportunity. The next time Bow popped out from his hide, she fired. His death groans were like music to her ears.

Without Bow’s covering fire, Scorpia was able to pick off Glimmer before she could take Scorpia out of the game.

Blocking out Perfuma’s cheering, Catra kept moving, searching the battlefield for her target.

“Ugh, you are the worst!” The exasperated voice drew Catra’s attention. She couldn’t help but laugh, exactly as Lonnie had predicted, Mermista had gotten distracted by her nutcase boyfriend, with both of them being eliminated by Lonnie’s team.

Before she could do more than cheer though, a flash of blonde hair caught her attention.

Distracted looking for Adora, she was too slow to react to the sneak attack. Kyle was the first one out, putting his body between the attacker and Rogelio in an attempt to give him a chance of survival. His sacrifice was in vain, even with Lonnie’s quick reaction time. In what seemed like a matter of seconds, all three of them were out of the fight, without ever glimpsing their attacker.

Who the hell even was this chick?

She needed eyes on Scorpia asap, before Adora the one-women black ops stealth team took her out as well. Sprinting across the ceiling, she tried to reach Scorpia in time, but it was too late.

Scorpia was sitting on the floor laughing. Frosta sitting on her shoulders, crowing in triumph. Catra didn’t hesitate before taking her out with one quick shot. Fuck. It was down to just her and Adora. 

Adora, who wasn’t some fairy tale princess, but freaking Xena the Warrior Princess!

So far, her perch up in the rafters had kept her safe, but she hadn’t caught more than a glimpse of Adora. Catra was going to have to up her game.

Finding a relatively clear area, Catra dropped down next to a wall. She froze, pausing for a moment, listening for any sign of Adora. Hearing nothing, she kicked out at the wall and swore loudly, immediately leaping back up into the rafters.

Crouching on a beam, ready to strike, Catra waited. And waited. And waited.

What was taking her so long? Frowning, she considered dropping down and hunting Adora the old fashioned way. If she was being honest, she was a little disappointed, the idea of getting to jump from above onto the muscular woman was very appealing.

Propping her head up on the butt of her laser gun, she considered her next move. Something caught her eye and acting on pure instinct, she dropped to the ground. A stream of light speared over her head and she rolled to her feet, laying down a burst of laser fire.

Hoping that she’d bought herself some room to breathe, she darted behind another half wall and crouched down, breathing hard.

“Here kitty, kitty,” Adora murmured softly.

Oh, she was dead. Even if Catra had to go down to take her down, Adora _would_ be going down. She was not going to let anyone get away with calling her kitty, no matter how attractive that person happened to be. Or how much Catra wanted to climb her.

Staying low to the ground, she slunk around the walls, avoiding the dim overhead lighting as much as possible.

Adora was peering around a wall, eyes narrowed as she surveyed the area. Catra smirked and stalked towards her. Only her quick reflexes saved her as Adora spun and fired. Darting to the side, Catra fired in return, forcing Adora to dive backwards.

As she rolled to her feet, Catra rushed forward, trying to catch her while she was still off balance.

Instead, moving faster than should have been possible, Adora interrupted Catra’s forward momentum and pinned her against the wall, holding her against it with one hand.

The force of the impact (definitely that, not at all the bolt of want that shot through her) stole her breath and she lost her grip on the laser gun.

Adora smirked at her, but Catra didn’t miss the way her gaze dropped briefly to Catra’s mouth. “Told you I never lose,” she whispered.

“You always so full of yourself?” Catra smirked.

Adora flushed red and her grip loosened ever so slightly. Seizing her opportunity, Catra wrapped her legs around Adora’s waist and pushed off the wall, sending them both tumbling to the ground.

Pinning Adora to the ground, Catra gave her a toothy smirk before firing the laser gun point blank at Adora’s chest. “Gotcha,”

Bright red, Adora stared at Catra, her hands resting on Catra’s bare legs.

Supressing a shiver, Catra held Adora’s gaze, nails digging into her shoulders.

“What was that?!” Glimmer’s loud voice snapped Catra out of the trance she’d fallen into staring into Adora’s eyes.

Her face burning, she rolled off of Adora and buried her head in her hands. Get your shit together Catra! You don’t even know the woman! Suddenly off the ground, she flailed wildly before realising Scorpia had scooped her up.

“That was amazing, wildcat!” Scorpia cried.

Catra laughed despite herself and wiggled her way out of Scorpia’s grip. Feet solidly on the ground, she looked over to see Adora still on the floor, jacket over her face. It was muffled by the fabric, but she could just make out Adora’s voice.

“Please just put me out of my misery,” she muttered.

Bow patted her on the head over the jacket sympathetically. “Don’t worry Adora, I’m sure Catra isn’t upset with you.”

“Seriously though, what was that?” Glimmer repeated, hands on her hips.

Adora groaned again and Catra couldn’t help but smile softly. At least she wasn’t the only one who had embarrassed herself in front of all her friends.

“It’s just… work was a thing and I was running late and she’s so cute and then I was in fight mode and you know how I get in fight mode.” Her voice got softer as she explained until it was nothing but a whisper.

Catra would take cute. It wasn’t her favourite comment, but it was a starting point.

“Hey Adora,” she crooned, crouching beside Adora’s prone form. Adora sat up, letting the jacket slid to the floor beside her.

“I’m so sorry,” she said, staring at the ground. “That was totally inappropriate.”

“And super fun,” Catra responded. “It was nice to actually have a challenge for once, normally I just dominate the competition. Where did you learn to shoot like that?”

Adora laughed shakily. “It’s a long story,” she said, running a hand through her messy blonde hair. Pale strands framed her face, which just made Catra want to mess her up more.

Fuck it, Catra decided. She could deal with Lonnie’s teasing, she was a big girl.

“You could tell it to me over dinner,” Catra said, mentally bracing herself.

Adora looked up, a bright smile spreading across her face. “It’s a date.”

_Fin_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope to continue in this universe, I have some thoughts and plans but unfortunately, see the previously mentioned crippling self doubt and the ever inconvenient arcane force that is my motivation  
> (also I definitely owe Glimmer some love, I put her through so much shit in my fics)

**Author's Note:**

> In a rare turn of events for me, I do actually have this entire fic finished, I've just got to edit the second half which should be done within the week.   
> (It would have been done a lot quicker, except I got lost in a research hole trying to find the proper name for the congenital hand malformation Scorpia has in this series, only to end up only mentioning it in passing in this fic. Feel free to ask me about it in the comments if you're curious)


End file.
